Chicken Pox
'Chicken Pox' Please note, these tips are general and are not from healthcare professionals – for specific, age appropriate care for your child please consult your GP Chicken pox has hit the household! Spots have come out this morning. Any tips gratefully received. What are the recommendations re: getting out of the house, should we just avoid playdates etc or are we literally house bound? * Tell people the situation and if they are happy carry on as normal. If they want to avoid the pox then you can rearrange things. * They are contagious until the spots scab over so I would avoid public places etc. just tell friends the situation and then it's their choice what they do. Put porridge oats in a pair of tights and put that in the bath with them as this helps to stop the itching. I also found putting socks on my boys hands stopped them from scratching. * My two had it during last years heat wave which was hard as we were pretty housebound. I just kept windows open and curtains drawn. Mine were both smothered so weren't feeling up to much but lots of kids don't get it so severely. J struggled to concentrate enough to play or read so we watched lots of DVDs and he was allowed a fair amount of online time as it was the only thing that seemed to distract him. E was harder coming up 2 but luckily his brother was able to console him. They had daily baths sometimes twice which gave some relief and we used this stuff which was amazing: http://www.boots.com/en/PoxClin-CoolMousse_120395/ went on in seconds and dried them out very quickly. I would say avoid all public places and tell anyone who may be pregnant as they are at most risk. We did go for country walks on cooler days * Sodium bicarb in bath and dabbed on itchy spots and a great gel from the chemist that was better than calamine and Aqueous. * I gave the girls Piriton to help reduce itching and stood the girls in the bath and poured the lotion on morning and night and if they felt itchy in between. It's so cheap that I didn't mind using loads * Oh dear yes housebound. U catch pox just from having a convo with a contagious spotty one * We just had it, baths with bicarbonate of soda were very soothing. Piriton and calamine lotion helped a lot too. We didn't go out much, did go to park to run around away from people though as we were both sick of the same four walls! Hope it passes quickly for you all!! * Gel!!! Don't go for normal calamine lotion get a gel as sooooo much easier to apply. Good luck! Xx * My 2 both had it a couple of months ago (they're similar ages to yours I think). They both had a couple of days of feeling ill, with high temps, but after that they were fine in themselves. We avoided toddler groups etc. but went out for walks, to Post Office etc (you still have to get out to do your everyday jobs)...it took about 10 days from the first coming down with it to being able to resume normal activities. We used Virasoothe gel, and also followed recommendations from mummies on here....filled tights with oats and soaked in their bath water, and used coconut oil on the spots, I'm still using to try to prevent scarring as they both still have marks where the worst spots were. Neither of them seemed particularly itchy. Hope your boys aren't too bad with it....on the bright side at least you are getting it over and done with in one go * We've woken up to it here too. I don't think I've ever had it (no one can confirm for me as my Mum is dead and I'm one of six so no one ever remembers who got what!) so I'm waiting anxiously. My big concern is that I'm due to go on holiday next Thursday. We shouldn't be contagious by then but possibly spotty. Do you think we'll be allowed to fly? * Sorry to hear about all the spotty Superbabies, hope they're feeling better soon. I believe normal policy re flying is that you can fly once the spots have all crusted over and you're no longer infectious (approx a week). We had to cancel a visit to some friends as my daughter came out with chicken pox about 3 days before we were due to fly. We got a doctor's note so could rearrange flights with a minimal fee (still £50 though!)...hopefully you won't need to do that but if so, make sure you get a doctor's note to send to the airline/insurance company. * There's some rooibos resque cream that helps the itching. http://www.anniqueuk.co.uk/index.php.. * My daughter has just had chicken pox. I think she might have had it much milder than other babies at nursery as she is breast fed. I have heard that the foam is really good but I only find out about it afterwards. Stopping them scratching interesting. Socks on hands lots of cream, keeping cool and less bathing all helped. Yes sadly you need to keep away from vulnerable people newborns, pregnant ladies etc. until all the spots have scabbed over. Do be prepared when you do take the boys out for people to look at them like they have the plague as the spots last a while. I am hoping my daughters will disappear soon (particularly one in Hi SMs, I'm looking for advice on chickenpox, what can I use to make my girl more comfortable etc? * Aqueous cream with calamine, ask at pharmacy, Drs don't recommend calamine lotion anymore X * I didn't use calamine . I used poxcillin antibacterial cooling mousse on him to stop itching and reduce scarring, also it made everything more hygienic. Also piriton syrup which is drowsy formula but it was a blessing. Antihistamine. X * Both available from good old sainsburys! The mousse is about £10 so a bit pricey. Things have moved on since I was covered in chalky pink stuff with a pair of gloves on my hands :) Hope the wee lass gets well soon x Did you give the piriton syrup aswell as calpol? X * Yes I did after asking the pharmacist. A real care process! Syringes, pots and potions all over the place! * Will a bubble bath iritate her? Best just to stick to pure water? X * I actually put bicarbonate of soda in the bath. I remember using body wash because I needed to clean the nappy area because it was so minging! He did need a clean but I was super gentle. I think that one is personal choice, depends how sore she is x * We've had it this week and have been using oats in tights in the bath (provides comedy bath toy too!!) as lots of friends have recommended this. It really helped sooth their skin but my 3 year old objected to being bathed in milk (the oats make the water look milky). 1 year old didn't care... Oh, and we've also been using that mousse and piriton syrup and having been giving my 1 year old lots of time with no nappy on as the spots in that area are taking much longer to heal.